Knitting-machine needle



stereo SlildTlllS FATENT l hllitlllii PATRICK 1. LA MONTAGNE, O31 BOTJR-BONNAIS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR- T PARAMOUNT KNITTING COMPANY, OF CHI ACTO, ILLINOIS, it CORPORATION OF ILLINOLQ,

W9 n, nast est):

Application filed I'fi'er ch 13,

To all whom it may 51, HCflt.

Be it known that l, PAiRlC-K P. LA Mon- TAGNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bcurbonnais, county of linnl'oikee, State of lllinois, have ii'rvented an Improvement in Knitting-lilachine l leedles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a soeciiicntiom like characters on. the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a knitting innchine and particularly to the needle. The needle is of the type in which the hook memher and latch member are seinrnte inembers, that is, physically independent and separate trom GtlCll other although co-ucting to perform the required looping tunetions.

It is the object of the invention to provide a needle of this type which may be mounted and operate in the usual n dle slot of the dial bed. cylinder bed or other needle bed and thus obviate the necessity of an additional separate slot for the latch member trei uently employed in connection with this type of needle. This feature (it the invention enables the separate latch type of needle to be employed in existing knitting machines without alterition of the needle bed and it olsr eliminates the necessity of lQ-(lQSig'illllQ' knitting machines so as to enable them to be provided with the additional slot for the hitch nieniher.

It is the object of the invention also to provide '1. hitch member which ma be men utactured QXPGLiltlOlli-illl' and in iensively and which shall present a simple and cilicient means for effecting the necl'assnry tording friction with the side walls of the needle slot.

It is the object of the invention else to pro *ide a construction of lntch member which when eilecting the said necessary retarding friction shall be readily insertible with the hook nien'iberin the slot in the bed.

It is the object of the invention also to provide :1 needle of this type in which the latch member moves within the boundaries of the hook member and is provided with a pointedhead projecting through a longitudinal slot in the hook member to enable the point of the latch to move into and out of cooperative relation with the hook.

These and other objects of the invention will soccer more tully' tro nfthe'f'eccompecificetion of Letters Patent.

Q MACHIIQ'E NEEDLE.

,position therein;

1* 2 is aside ele *ation oi: a preferred form of needle with the hook member shown in longitudinal cross section and with the ports in castingoli' position;

Fig. 3 is it view similar to Fig. 2 but with the members shown in forward projected or yarnoeceiving position;

Fig. l is o, bottom plan view of the needle with tne members in the position shown in ex W 5 is a development of the latch meni- 6 is a perspective View oi the latch inem :er shown in the'preceding figures;

' T a view in vertical cross section of :t I needle embodying" the present inrenton adopted for use ther in.

The present lIlYGIlUUlI presents a knitting machine needle particularly 'nlunble for use in the dial where the problems arising from the limitations of splice and. of re striction of movement are more diliicult. but the main principles ot the invention are equally applicable to the cy (l8? needle and both forms are herein ilh stated. This invention shortens the length over oil re quir d. for the needle and its loinzitudinztl movement and thus; in the case of the dial of n circular knitting machine. enables smaller dial to be employed or a grea o; number of needles to be employed in. n dial of a given size. thus in turn enabling it finer quality of work to be performed.

The fez'itures of the invention will best be understood by an examination of a pre 'ferred form of construction embodying the invention such as herein illustrated.

The invention is adapted for use in any ordinary type of knitting machine. In Fig. 1 the bed 1 oi. the dial of an ordinary type of circular knitting: machine is shown supported on the vertical stud or shaft 2 and this bed is provided with the usual radial Patented May ill, 192%.

needle-receiving and guiding slots The usual groove 4: shown, formed be txveen'the can: members and 5 for operating the butts of the needle to the necessery frnovenients thereto.

. .ln this type of needle one member is given a reciprocating movement and the other member obtains its movements from the first member. In the 'construction illustrated the "hook member is provided with a. butt "coopersting with the can) groove l by means of which the hook member positively moved in out" or back and forth and the latch this hoolt member is also provided with a hrough the body of the hook member adjacent the hook. The hook 1I16Illb61lS also grovided with the usual butt 11 by which it .s operated from the cam groove e. The hook 31g nher is provided with a lateral 0 Tot. preferably in tle. term of a recess 2 :it its rear face formed in the shank hereof and preferably by s stenipin or -unchingg operation so as to leave sharply .nd vuccurn-tely defined shoulders 13 and 14.

.he slot opens into this recess.

The hook member may be formed by any suit-able method oi manufacture but trefera-hi}; the body of the hook member is punched out so "that the hook member may present an accurately positioned end sharply defined butt accurately positioned end sharply defined shoulders 18 and 14/ The longitudinal slot 10 may be and usually is formed by a sewing operation. For this purpose two thin cir ulur saws 15 and 16 may be employed. The sew travels along the path 1? cutting the groove 9 in the hook tip and the straight rear or bottom wall 18 and the slot 10 until-it comes closely adjacent to the butt 11 as indicated. in Fig. 3. The cuttingof the slot 10 is then completed by the saw 16 which is moved in from the rear to the position indicated in Fig. 3.

The latch member separately shown developed in 5 completed in preferably a med of thin. sheet motel sped out end-t bent to the required bau yzl- This lat-ch member comprises a head 19 provided with a point 2 adapted to cooperetev with the tip of the hook, the point 20 d n. the needle retracted lying over the g1. we shank 2-1 of the latch has a cortion i extended transversel v ongitudinel transverse slot 10 extending is then fed-to the hook.

esa-e59 the latch member and the Wells of the needle slot. The ends of the U-shsped section are bent or pinched'toward each other sufiiciently to bring them Within the boundaries of the side walls of the hook'member, thus enabling, the hook member with, the contained latch readily to be slipped into-the needle bed groove or slot.

The ')roport1o'ns of the latch member with respect to the hookmember are such that the latch member lies entirely Within the bounduries oi the hook membenthe head lying in the slot .10 and the ll-shaped section fitting snugly into the recess 12 with the rear of the latch member against the bottom -Wtll of the needle slot. l'hedistance between the shoulders'lll and ll of the hook member and the length of the U pcdlportion of the latch member s e rel .ly such that when the hook meinh is r-: *iprocste rl the proper. movement and cooperative action ofthe latch ineinloer secured.

The needle is shown in retracted position in Fig; 2. The can: groove 4 acting on the butt ll project-s the hook member outwardly -until the shoulder ll comes into contact with the shoulder 26 at the end of the Ushaped section. Bering this movement of the hook member the leech member remains longitudinally stationery owing to the engagement of the lJ-shsped section with the Walls of the needle slot and the hook is uncovered, During this movement the latch member rocks slightly transversely as the head 19 rides down on the well 18. When the shoul' der 1e contacts with the shoulder 26 of the letch member. as shown in 3, the point of the latch ex ends forward the shoulder 18, thus preventing the latch point from passing behind the hook member, and the latch member is then carried bodily riorwa-rd until both members reechthe required projected or ysrn-recciving position. The yarn The cam then. sets to retract the hook member, During: this retreating movement the letclt member is again. heldv longitudinally stationary by reaon of the frictional engagement of'the U- shaped section with the Wells of the nee-die.

Leashes slot until the shoulder 13 comes into con tact with the shoulder 2% or shoulders 24. and 25 at the opposite end of the U-shaped section of the latch member and during this movement the head 19 of the latch member rides up on the wall 18 and lies over the pact. The tendency to rock the needle bodily.

caused by the action of the cam on the butt is at the minimum because both the body of the latch member and the body of the hook member are as close to the point at which the butt is engaged by the cam as is possible so that the rocking movement is minimized.

When the latch member is in its forward position with its point resting in the groove 9 of the hook tip, the head of the latch member rests upon, and is supported by, the for.- ward inclined wall 18 of the slot in the hook member so that the point of the latch member is bridged across the opening of the hook and thussupports the yarn in the casting off operation so as to bring the minimum amount of strain upon the needle. The point of the latch resting over the groove 9 in the hook tip also causes the needle to present the minimum cross sectional area thus bringing as little strain as possible upon thework' in the knitting operation. This groove 9 enables the point of the latch normally to stand closer to the hook tip without touching the hook tip and insures the point of the latch seating in the groove and centrally of the hook when drawn toward the hook by sufficient strain from the yarn.

The latch member shank being held between the front wall of the recess 12 of the hook member and the bottom of the needle slot prevents the rear end of the latch momber from moving bodily transversely with respect to the hook member and insures the maintenance of the relative longitudinal movement of the needle members.

The adaptation of the principles of this invention to the cylinder needleis apparent and is illustrated in Fig. 7 wherein -a portion of a needle cylinder 27 is shown provided with the needle slot 28. The hook member 29 of the needle has the usual elongated shank provided with the butt30 operated by the cam 31. The only difference between this needle and that already described is that the shank of the hook member is prolonged beyond the recess 32, corresponding to the recess 12 already described. and the butt is transferred to the usual position for a cylinder needle. The operation of the needle is the same as that already desc ribe d It will thus be seen that all the objects of the invention hereinbefore set forth are attained in the forms of needle herein described and illustrated as the preferred forms of the invention. readily and inexpensively manufactured and the cooperating parts are preferably formed by punching or stamping operations enabling the interengaging portions of the members to be positioned and defined with eii treme' accuracy so that the relative movements and positions of the needle members maybe given and secured with extreme accuracy,

The needle presents a self-contained structure which may be readily inserted inthe slots of the ordinary types of knitting inachines without requiring any alteration" or redesigning thereof. t, I

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. A knitting machine needle comprising a longitudinally slotted hook member and a separate latch member, means for effecting member when in retracted position being 10- (rated entirely 111 said opening and slot with the head of the latch member movable relatively to the. hook member through said slot to bring the point of the latch member into and out of cooperation with the hook.

2. A knitting machine needle comprising a longitudinally slotted hook member and a separate latch member having a section of its shank laterally resilient and of greater width than the width of the needle bed slot in which the needle is to operate, the said hook member being provided with a lateral opening. the said latch member being located within the boundaries of the hook member with the resilient section thereof in said opening and with its head movable through said slot to bring the point thereof into and out of cooperation with the book when the hook member 'is reciprocated longi- 'tudinally.

3. A knitting machine needle comprising a longitudinally slotted hook member provided with a shouldered recess at its back. a separate latch member located within the boundaries of said hook member having a head movable through said slot to bring the point thereof into and out of cooperation with the hook and having a portion of its shank extended trai'isversely and bent back parallel to itself to form a U-shaped resilient section. of greater width than the width of the hook member and located within said recess.

4. A knitting machine needle having the construction specified in claim 3 in which the said U-shaped section is pinched or bent together at its ends to bring the endswithin the side walls of the hook member and thus These needles are enable the needle readily to he slipped into a slot of a needle bed.

5. A latch member for a separate latch Knitting machine needle having a point for coope 'ating with the hook ot the needle and having a shank, a portion of the shank being extended transversely and bent hack parallel 'to itself to form a U-shaped resilient section adapted for frictional engagement with the side walls of a. needle guiding slot.

6. A latch member for a separate latch knitting n'i'achine needle having the construction specified in claim 5 in which the body of the shank extends in the central longitudinal plane of the said Ushaped section.

7. A latch member for a separate latch knitting machine needle hai'ing a point for cooperating with the hook of the needle and having a shank, a portion of the shank being extended. transversely and provided with a notch adjacent the shank. the said portion being bent hack parallel to itseli to form a U-shaped resilient section adapted for trio-- tional engagement with the side walls of a needle guiding slot, the body of the shank extending in the central longitudinal plane of the said U-shaped section, and the said notch permit in o; the forward edge of the said extended portion when bent hack to aline with or extend forward of the shoulder formed at the bend of the shank to bring it into said central plane. 8. A knitting machine needle comprising a longitmlinally slotted hook member, a separate latch member provided With a shank and with a head passing through the slot of the hook member the latch member being located Within the homnlaries of the hook member Wl'ie'fehy the entire needle may he mounted in a single needle bed slot, the said lateh member eom irising' laterally resilient means adapted to engage the side Walls of the needle slot.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this speoifieation.

PATRICK P. LA MONTAGNE. 

